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It is Discouraged to Kiss when Greeting one another
Author : The General Iftaa` Department
Date Added : 17-10-2022

It is Discouraged to Kiss when Greeting one another

 

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.

People have been asking about the ruling of Sharia on men kissing men and women kissing women when meeting and greeting. This question is posed due to what is being said about transmission of infection as a result. In short, this issue boils down to the following:

This act of kissing-regardless of infection-is discourged by Sharia except in exceptional cases. A man asked: "O Messenger of Allah! When a man meets a brother or a friend, should he bow to him?" He said: "No." The man asked whether he should embrace and kiss him? The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) replied: "No." He asked whether he should hold his hand and shake it? The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) replied: "Yes." [At-Tirmidhi]. This is what the companions (May Allah be pleased with them) used to do. Anas reported: "If the companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, met each other, they would shake hands. If they had returned from a journey, they would embrace each other." {At-Tabarani}. This narration shows an exceptional case in which kissing is allowed. However, Sharia discourages Muslims to kiss every time they meet.

Nonetheless, if this kissing entails the possibility of infection, then it isn`t allowed by Sharia since the Prophet (PBUH) forbade letting sick camels graze or drink with healthy ones. If this is the case with animals, then people are more entitled to observe such precautionary measure.

Accordingly, we advise all citizens to suffice with shaking hands when visiting during Eid time, and this is the customary practice of many advanced Muslim countries. As people say, what counts is the feeling that people have in their hearts towards one another since kissing someone while hating them or being afraid of catching infection doesn`t befit human beings. Let`s make this happy occasion an opportunity to get rid of this bad habit of kissing except in exceptional cases, such as kissing someone who came after a long journey. The Messenger of Allah kissed Jafar Bin Abi Talib between his eyes when he came from Abyssinia after having migrated to it for many years. However, even in such cases, if a person is coming from a country with a pandemic, then this kissing should be avoided.

Finally, it is good to remind that low morals are more infectious than diseases, so beware of them, and we wish you a happy Eid.

 

General Iftaa` Department.

 

 

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Summarized Fatawaa

A person who has recently embraced Islam is afraid of undergoing circumcision (khitān) — what should he do?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
If this person would be harmed by undergoing circumcision, based on the assessment of a trustworthy physician, then he is not obligated to undergo it. However, if the matter is simply a fear of the procedure itself, then it may be postponed until he feels at ease and settled about it, provided this does not lead him to become averse to Islam — while still taking care to remove any impurity from the concealed area [beneath the foreskin]. And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.

How do I deal with whispers (waswasa) in ablution and purification?

Whispers in ablution are from Satan, and the Muslim should not pay attention to them. He is not required to re-perform ablution or repeat washing a limb because of waswasa. He should always base his purification on its being valid. It is recommended for him to frequently say "La ilaha illa Allah" (There is no god but Allah), because Satan recoils when Allah is mentioned. And Allah the Almighty knows best.

What is the ruling of Islamic Law on the prayer of zawal?

 

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
It is recommended (sunnah) to pray four rakʿāt — either with a single tasleem or as two separate sets of two rakʿāt — immediately following the sun's decline from its zenith (zawāl). This prayer is distinct from the regular Sunnah prayer of Ẓuhr (sunnat al-ẓuhr al-rātibah), as explicitly stated by the Shāfiʿī jurists.
It is mentioned in Nihāyat al-Muḥtāj: "The prayer of zawāl is offered after the sun's decline — so were one to perform it before that, it would not count. It consists of two or four rakʿāt and is distinct from the Sunnah of Ẓuhr, as is evident from the fact that it is mentioned separately after the regular Sunnah prayers, and it becomes a make-up prayer (qaḍāʾ) if a long period of time passes by customary reckoning... Al-ʿAlqamī stated: 'Scholars refer to this as the Sunnah of Zawāl, and it is distinct from the four rakʿāt that constitute the Sunnah of Ẓuhr.' Our shaykh said: Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-ʿIrāqī stated that among those who explicitly affirmed its recommendation was al-Ghazālī in al-Iḥyāʾ, in the chapter on devotional litanies, noting that there is no tasleem between them — meaning there is no break between each pair of rakʿāt."
The time of the sun's decline (zawāl) marks the very beginning of the time for the Ẓuhr prayer.
And Allah the Almighty knows best.

What is the ruling on the white discharge (*Al-Qassat al-Bayda'*) if it is in a very small amount—is it considered a sign of purity?

 
All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
 
Among the signs of purity (Tahr) for a woman is the white discharge (Al-Qassat al-Bayda'), which is a clear, pure white fluid, regardless of whether it is minimal in quantity, or complete dryness (Jafaf), wherein secretions cease entirely such that if a white cotton cloth is inserted, it comes out completely clean. Once a woman observes either of these two signs, she has attained ritual purity.
 
Furthermore, another sign of purity is when the duration of the menstrual period exceeds the maximum limit of menstruation, which is fifteen days. If it exceeds this period, it becomes evident that she is experiencing non-menstrual bleeding (Istihadah).
 
The rulings pertaining to menstruation may be reviewed in the article: "Rulings on Menstruation and Postnatal Bleeding Every Muslim Woman Must Know." And Allah Almighty knows best.